Tomorrow is July 1st and summer is in full swing. Now, summer means different things for each of us so I thought it would be fun to see what everyone has planned. I’ve put a few items in the poll already, but feel free to add your own answer and drop a comment below.

At one point in the past, I posed the question on my blog of how long a pastor should remain with one church.  Every now and then I look back at the most thoughtful response I received to the question (which came from an Orthodox priest) and spend some time thinking about it.  He said,

I would generally suggest what is often the norm in Orthodoxy, which is that a priest remains at one Church for the entirety of his ministry. There are, of course, many exceptions to this. Interestingly in the history of Protestantism in America this was once thought the norm as well (colonial period, for example). A pastor who had served at as many as three churches was frequently considered either a failure or troubled.

The changing of pastors is often driven by careerism, disguised by all kinds of reasons. Most pastors go to other churches for more money, and so on, unless there is something wrong in which case they tend to move down.

In the case of a priest of the Orthodox Church, I don’t know why I would ever want to leave my flock anymore than I would want a family other than the one I have. I hear their confessions, baptize, marry, bury, teach, preach, grieve, rejoice, beg their forgiveness. There is an old saying from the Desert Fathers that says, ‘Stay in your cell and your cell will teach you everything.’

Like a marriage, a pastor, I suspect, would look very differently at his church if he thought his entire life would be spent there. No running away, no moving up. Just here with these souls and any others who may come. My goal in life is to be buried from my present parish at an extreme ripe old age hopefully having been faithful and fruitful in my ministry in this place. Of course, all of these things are in the hands of God.

I think there is a lot of wisdom in this, and I find myself resonating more and more with it as time goes on.  Growing up, I was part of a tradition which would see congregations get new pastors every six or seven years.  I see some strengths and weaknesses in each view, and have had varying opinions on the matter over time.

As you prepare for ministry, have you thought about this?  If you feel called to pastor a church, do you find yourself identifying with what the priest said above, or do you expect to serve several churches in the tenure of your ministry? What are the pros and cons of each?

As we are beginning a new semester of classes, I have been reflecting on what I have learned during the first three semesters and where that learning has taken place.  Personally, I have learned more outside of the classroom than I have inside.  That is not to say that I have not learned in class.  What I am saying is that the Lord has used events outside the classroom to shape my life, faith, and ministry.

As I look back to what has happened the past year and a half since moving to Louisville, KY from the St. Louis area, I have seen that there are lessons I would not have been able to learn without leaving home.  For most seminarians attending seminary is a step of faith.  This is even more true for those who have families.  So, I ask, where has God taught you the most during your time as a seminary student?

Since I apparently have too much time on my hands (uh, yeah right) I decided to create a fun little online quiz to help people see if they have what it takes to survive seminary. Go take the Seminary Survival Quiz and be sure to post your badge on your blog. Then drop a comment below and let us know how you scored.

My score… Well:

76%

For the past several months I have been “winging” it with our finances.  This was somewhat intentional since we’ve been in a crazy transitional period and tracking everything was just too complicated at the time. Rather than actually look at our budget, where we’re spending, how much we’re spending, and what we’re spending on, I’ve been going with my gut feelings on how we’re doing financially.

The other day I decided to get back to our budget and, well, it wasn’t pretty.  We’ve now got a little bit of debt because of some of our seminary related decisions.  This got me thinking about some of the stats I read from the Association of Theological Schools.  Only 43% of seminary students in 2007 graduated with NO seminary debt.

Debt stinks… so, what about you… where is your debt-o-meter currently hovering?

n

It has been a couple months since we have had the Book Review take over here at Going to Seminary.  We have had reviews on Bibles, magazines and obviously books.  Now, we would like to know what you think of the reviews. As we leave 2008 and head into 2009, we at GtS are wanting to better serve you, the reader.  Without you Going to Seminary would not be possible.  So please, we would greatly appreciate your vote and/or comment on the book reviews.

What do you think of the Book Reviews at GtS?

I admit… I got a D- in Systematic Theology III.  Now, I can rattle off my list of excuses, but I think I shall spare you the details as the humiliation is probably good for building my character.

The truth of the matter is that I am really embarrassed by the grade.  Despite my constant writing about how unimportant grades are in seminary, the truth is they are still important to me.  I do find far more of my identity in my grades that I probably should.  I do wonder what my professor thinks of me and I want to hide my grade from everyone and anyone who might ask.  But maybe that is part of the lesson this D- has afforded me.

Actually, the biggest thing my D- has has done is remind me that Jesus doesn’t have a grading scale… or at least (for analogy sake) he saw that I was going to bomb the test, so he failed it too in order that I might receive the blessing of the curved grade (uh… I know, not the best… but I did get a D-, so give me a break).  But in reality, Jesus isn’t thinking, “oh, that Ryan… didn’t do too hot in Sys. Theo. III.  Not sure I’ll be able to use him to expand my kingdom anymore.”  And, silly as that sounds, I think some of us might struggle with that.  Can God really use me if I get bad grades?  Will he use me if I don’t finish my degree?  These are real struggles and real battles that some of us face.

I guess, for me, at the end of the day I hang my hat on Romans 8:38-39.  My D- can’t separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  That, friends, is good news indeed.

Care to share you worst seminary grade?

Well, for the most part everyone is finished up with the semester.  While a few of you might be putting the last touches on a paper or two, the rest of the seminary world is settling in for the holiday break.  Which leads to the question, “What is the best way to spend your holiday break?”

With just over a month off for most of you, what do you think is the best way to spend the time off?  Feel free to vote, but don’t forget to sound off in the comment section as well. (Hey, your on break, what else do you have to do besides comment on blogs!)

For some of you, you’ve already wrapped up the semester. For the rest of you, finals are right around the corner. As a follow up to yesterday’s post on trusting God in the big and small, how stressed do you get around finals time? Also, in the comment section, drop a line or two and let us know why you do or don’t get stressed? Any tips or advice for finals time?

During the last redesign of Going to Seminary I installed a seminary forum. I thought it was going to be a great idea. Seminarians from all over the globe could come to one spot and have discussions and dialogues (and an occasional monologue) about things related to seminary. I created a section for seminarians to bounce paper ideas off one another, discuss jobs, talk about family issues, and a place to help those considering seminary to ask questions. Well… the forum has been less than active. So, today’s two cent Tuesday question is “should we dump the forum?”

If you’re answer is yes, then I’ll give it the ax. If it is “no” then get over there and start using it. Whatever you decide I’ll do at the end of the week.

Cheers!
_ryan